Blackstone Group executive Jonathan Gray doesn’t consider himself a gambler. But the New York City-based private equity fund is wagering $1.73 billion it can make The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas a shining jewel on the Strip.

There is no debate that Station Casinos had a strong finish to 2014, giving analysts hope that recovery in the Las Vegas locals gaming market is underway. Now, the investment community may want a piece of the action.

If California’s Internet poker debate was an actual card game, PokerStars just doubled up. But the European online gaming giant is still short-stacked against two of the state’s largest tribal casino operators in the company’s effort to gain a piece of California’s potentially lucrative — albeit nascent — Internet poker market.

By numbers alone, the merger of Golden Gaming and Lakes Entertainment doesn’t equal any one of the combined $18.5 billion in gaming equipment manufacturing buyouts that have happened in the past 18 months.

Over the last 18 months, Scientific Games Corp. spent $7.6 billion to acquire the gaming industry’s No. 2 and No. 3 slot machine manufacturers. That makes Scientific Games Corp. the new International Game Technology — minus the baggage.

Falling gasoline prices and rising consumer confidence potentially add up to good news for regional casino operators. Whether or not this translates into more dollars in casino drop boxes is still up for debate.

The American Gaming Association is expanding both in membership and influence. Last week, the AGA announced it added nine new members, including Seminole Hard Rock Gaming — the group’s first American Indian-owned casino company — and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The most recent publicity stunt in the ongoing skirmish between Culinary Local 226 and Station Casinos had a holiday street party feel combined with an arts and crafts project. But when it was over, the union came off looking like an inept comedy team.

In Macau, there are spectacular images of the city’s downtown Peninsula skyline from the Ruins of St. Paul. Above the church site is Mount Fortress, built by Jesuits to protect the Portuguese colony. The crumbled buildings and cannons serve as a metaphor for the current state of the Chinese gaming enclave.

When he appears at the Nevada Gaming Commission Thursday, Sam Nazarian — the visionary behind SLS Las Vegas — should accept the Dec. 3 recommendation by the Gaming Control Board for a one-year limited gaming license.

The irony was not lost on Gavin Isaacs. On Nov. 21, 2013, Gavin Isaacs watched as SHFL entertainment, where he was CEO for 32 months, was sold to slot machine giant Bally Technologies — his former employer — for $1.3 billion. The next day, Isaacs was out of work.

Caesars Entertainment, the nation’s largest casino operator with almost 40 properties in 14 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Ontario, is under attack as it struggles to restructure its gaming industry-high debt load of $22.8 billion.